Superman
by spc6grl
Summary: Natalie finds that Jack needs reassurance of who his father really is.


**Author's Note:** This is the first fic of mine I have ever posted to the internet, and I would prefer it to not be my last. Constuctive criticism is welcomed, however if you don't like the story, please keep that to yourself.

Superman

_He's leaving._

Eva's words echo through her mind as the tears stream down her cheeks. She holds her face in her hands as she sits on the floor in one of the stalls of the women's bathroom. The sounds of her sobs are the only sound filling the bathroom.

_Get it together, Natalie._

She tells herself that at least every thirty seconds, each time just as unsuccessful as the last. Finally, after what seems like hours of never ending hysterics, she regains her composure. She tears off some toilet paper and tries her best to scrub her cheeks clean of the tear stains and the mascara lines she knows are there. She cautiously exits the stall and walks over to the sink. She begins to wash her hands, but when she looks at her reflection in the mirror, she doesn't recognize herself, and even after scrubbing her face down, the obvious signs of tears are still there.

Quickly, she throws cold water over her face. God forbid someone walked in to find the NIH's top pathologist scrubbing her face down to remove evidence of a hysterical breakdown. God forbid Kate walked in and saw her like this. She let water seep into her skin before grabbing a paper towel to blot her face. Five paper towels later, she looks at herself one more time.

_Well, at least the streaks are gone, and my eyes aren't red anymore._

She thought that reapplying some more make-up would have been better. However, she didn't have that kind of time. She needed to get back to work before someone came to find her. She exits the restroom while straightening her lab coat. She walks to the front desk to pick up some paperwork that was left for her, but the image of a young boy playing some sort of hand held electronic device appeared in her peripheral vision. She turns her head to see the boy, who had black hair past his ears and wore a red baseball cap.

"Jack?" She asks. The boy looks up and a grin the size of Montana grows on his face.

"Natalie!" He practically yells as he runs to her and throws his arms around her waist. She can't help but to laugh as her arms wrap around his shoulders. She presses her cheek against the top of his head closing her eyes. But after a moment, her eyes pop back open and she pushes him slightly away from her. "What?" he asks, surprised by her action. She straightens her hand and places it on top of his head. She slowly moves it from him to her, with it stopping right above her chin. A pout comes across her face as her hand drops to her side. "What's wrong?" Jack asks.

"I just realized how much older I'm getting," she says, then slightly smiling. Jack grins and once again wraps his arms around her waist, with her returning the motion. "The last time I saw you, you didn't reach my shoulders."

"I know," he said, looking up at her. "The last time I saw you was three years ago when you babysat me for mom and dad. You took me ice skating that time." Natalie remembered that day well. She taught him how to ice skate that night, and she had been impressed how he picked it up quickly. The next day she learned from Stephen how Lisa was not happy about her choice of activity for them. Natalie could've cared less about what she thought. Stephen however had thought it was a good idea, and he had voiced how he planned to take Jack himself one day. Whether he did or not was unknown, Lisa probably forbid him to do so.

"Yeah, that was a long time ago, wasn't it?" she asks. "What are you doing here, anyway? You and your father are supposed to be on the road by now," she says. Jack's grin quickly turns upside down.

"He said he had to see Frank about something, and to wait for him here," he says, sounding as if he was being ignored. Natalie looks up the hall, still no sign of Stephen. She turns back to Jack.

"Come on, I'll buy you an ice cream while we wait," she says as she places her arm around his shoulder, and his arm stays in place around her waist as they move down the hall to the food court.

Once there, they find an empty table and sit down across from each other, with Jack licking his ice cream cone and Natalie digging into the small styrofoam bowl of chocolate ice cream. "So have you and your dad decided what you guys are going to do during your road trip?" Natalie asks.

"Well," Jack says licking the ice cream off his lips. "We decided to visit all four corners of the country. We're going to travel up one side and down the other," he says.

"Ooh, sounds like fun," Natalie says.

"Yep, I can't wait," Jack says, but then a frown forms on his face.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Natalie asks.

"We were supposed to be started on the road right by now, but as usual, Dad has something he's gotta do," Jack says. Natalie is taken back by this.

"Now, Jack, you know that if it wasn't important your dad you've let either me or Frank handle it," Natalie says.

"See, Nat, that's it, he's always working! He never has time for me anymore. He's the biggest workaholic on the planet and he won't even admit it." Natalie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He loves his job more than he loves me, I know he does." That was the straw that broke the camel's back. After those words left his mouth, Natalie knew this wasn't Jack talking.

"Let me guess, your mom told you that," Natalie says with disgust in her voice. Jack, looking as if he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, nods his head slowly.

"Yeah."

_Damn you to hell, Lisa._

Natalie sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as she feels a headache coming on. She takes her hand off her nose and gently grabs Jack's hand. "Jack, I'm going to tell you something. Now, you might already know this, but by judging from what your mother has told you, you don't know, so please listen to my point of view, considering I work with your father," Natalie says as she looks into his eyes. Jack stares at her for a few moments, and she takes that as a sign to continue.

"Yes, your father does work a lot. But he wouldn't work nearly as much as he does if his job wasn't the most important one here." Jack's eyes widen a little. "Your dad," she begins, but then takes a long breath of air, hoping that would be enough time to think of the words to say. "I have seen him make decisions, important decisions, in mere seconds, where as it would've taken the president himself months to even consider several possible courses of action." Jack smirks a little. "And I'll be honest with you Jack. Sometimes, the decisions that he makes effect entire cities," she says. Jack is taken back by this and Natalie fears his eyes are about to pop out of his head. "Now, I'm not making excuses for your dad, that's not the point of me telling you this. All I am asking is that you take it easy on him." Jack slowly bows his head as if he's ashamed of himself. "I know for a fact your dad wishes he could spend more time with you, and I know you get mad when he has to go back on his promises. But all I ask, Jack, is for you to think of the hundreds, possibly thousands, of people he's saving when he takes off." When she says that, Jack's head shoots back up.

"My dad's a hero?" he asks, so innocently. Natalie smiles.

"Yeah, your dad's a hero," she says as she rubs his knuckles with her thumb. He smiles and looks down to the table. After a moment, she smiles and shakes his hand and he looks back up to her. She leans forward and pulls him to her. "Didn't you know your dad is 'Superman' around here?" she asks. Jack bursts out in a laughing fit, as well as Natalie. "He goes around all the time with a big 'S' on his chest." Jack begins to hold his side because he is laughing so hard. Natalie waits for him to calm down before she begins again.

"No, I take that back. Your dad isn't Superman, he is so much better than Superman. Granted he can't leap tall buildings in a single bound or fly or melt stuff with his laser vision, of course I have seen him stare people down with that powerful gaze of his," she says as Jack chuckles. "Your dad has saved so many more lives than Superman ever could. Superman is a fictional character, where as your father, and the others like him, are not. They are the true heroes who put their lives on the line for others." He nods as she finishes, but she pulls him closer once more. "And the 'S' on his chest doesn't stand for 'Superman', it stands for 'Stephen'," she says and they both go into a laughing fit.

--

"Did you find him?" Stephen asks Frank.

"No, did you have any luck?" Frank asks.

"All I found was his game-boy," Stephen says as he holds up the device.

"You know, Lisa is not going to be happy about this. You've had him for less than two hours and you've already lost him," Frank says.

"I didn't lose him!"Stephen snaps. "He wondered off somewhere and I just need to find him."

"…definitely hit the Grand Canyon, that is a sight to be seen," Stephen heard Natalie say. He quickly turns around and sees his son arm in arm with her.

"Actually, that is one of the stops on our trip," Jack replies.

"Good, I promise you won't be disappointed," she says smiling down at him, but when she looks up, her smiles falls when she sees the look on Stephen's face. "Uh oh, I think we're in trouble," she says looking back down to Jack. He looks up and sees his father stalking over to them.

"Where have you been? I've been looking for you all over the place," Stephen says, sounding irritated, worried and furious all in the same voice.

"Would you please relax? He was with me the entire time, I took him down to the food court and we got some ice cream," Natalie tries to explain.

"I told him to stay there and wait for me," he says, pointing over to the chair.

"Right, well, excuse me for being a 'Good Samaritan,' but the kid needed some company and I was sure-as-hell going to give it to him," Natalie says putting her fists on her hips.

"Frank, please walk Jack down to the truck," Stephen says as calmly as possible. Frank motions Jack towards him, and Jack goes to him.

"Bye, Natalie," Jack says, looking back to her one last time.

"Bye, Jack," she says back. Stephen watches them to make sure they get a good distance away before he turns back to Natalie. When he does, he sees she's looking down to the floor, obviously shielding her face from him. He sighs with impatience.

"I am in no mood for this Natalie," He says, but then he is caught off when she holds up her hand for him to stop. She slowly brings her head back up, but not before wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"Stephen, do me a favor," she begins, avoiding his eyes at all cost. "When you turn in your letter of resignation, say 'goodbye' to me, okay?" she asks, still avoiding his eyes. Stephen's eyes widen as air fills his lungs. He didn't want anyone to know this early, especially Natalie.

"Natalie, I…" he begins, but Natalie cuts him off with her hand, this time looking into his eyes.

"I don't want all the years we've worked together to go to waste, okay?" She says, slightly smiling. Stephen does nothing but stare at her with sorrow in his eyes. Natalie drops her gaze from his face. "Have fun on your trip," she says as she walks past him.

Stephen shuts his eyes and clenches his jaw.

_It can't be happening like this_.

He turns around, and watches her. He's lost count of how many times he's watched her walk away.

_Come back, please come back_.

He's lost count of how many times he's wanted to say that, but never could. He bows his head and rubs his temple with his hand. Now was not the time for this. He was going on a long trip with his son, and that was his priority.

He walks up to the truck, opens the door and gets in. He shuts the door as his head goes back to rest on the head rest. A moment passes before he builds up the courage to look over to his son.

His head is bowed, but after a moment, he realizes his father is watching him and looks up to him.

Stephen places his hand on his son's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he says. Jack nods.

"It's okay, Dad," he says back. Stephen smiles back while slightly shaking him, but then his smile quickly drops.

"Jack, I've got to tell you something," he says.

"What is it, Dad?" he asks. Stephen removes his hand from Jack's shoulder and looks straight ahead into the parking lot.

"When we get back from our trip, I will be leaving the NIH permanently," he says.

"What!?" Jack practically yells. Stephen, surprised, looks over to him. "You can't leave the NIH!" he says as he rises out of his seat.

"What?" Stephen asks, dumbfounded.

"Dad, you can't leave. What about all the cases that need to be solved? What about all the people who'll need you?" Jack asks frantically.

"Jack, I thought you wanted me to spend more time with you?" Stephen asks. Jack sighs and sits back down in his seat and bows his head. "Jack, what's wrong?" Stephen asks after his son hadn't said a word in several minutes. He looks up to his father, and it is then Stephen sees the tears flowing down his son's cheeks.

"Dad, I'm sorry," he says. Stephen pulls his son to him and wraps his arms around him. "I didn't want to write the letter, but she kept telling me I had the right to know what you do all the time when you're not with me and any reason you gave me wasn't good enough," he says, crying into his father's chest. Stephen rolls his eyes, thinking very un-gentleman-like thoughts about his soon-to-be ex-wife. Stephen pushes his son back a little to look at him.

"Jack," he begins as he places his hands on his son's face. "In a way, your mom is kind of right."

"No, Dad, she's not! I don't want to hear that from you!" Jack fires back. Stephen is taken back once again.

"What?"

"Dad, you're 'Superman' for Pete's sake! You've saved lives, thousands of them. I can't let you quit because of me, you're a hero, you're my hero. And if you quit you won't be a hero anymore," Jack says, almost hysterical. Stephen pulls him back to him once again.

"Now, who told you I was a hero?" he asks rubbing his son's back.

"Natalie," Jack says, his voice muffled against his father chest. Stephen's eyes shot open.

"Natalie?" He asks, obviously shocked. Jack nods his head.

"Yeah, she helped me to understand, Dad," he says.

"Understand what?" he asks looking down to his son.

"That what you do here is important, and sometimes the decisions you make effect everyone," he says. For the first time, Stephen was rendered speechless. Jack leans up to look at his father. "Dad, I don't want you to quit, especially for me, but I won't stop you if you do. I do wish we could spend more time together, but if something comes up and you have to cancel, I'll get over it." Stephen just stared at him. "Please don't quit, Dad," Jack begs. Stephen smiles and places his hand on the back of his son's neck and slightly shakes him. He leans over on the driver's door and places his elbow on the window sill, then he places his chin on his fist and contemplates about what in the world just happened. Then, it hits him.

"Superman?" he asks as he rises off his fist to look at his son. Jack smiles.

"Yeah, Natalie said you were 'Superman' at the NIH, and that you went around with a big 'S' on your chest all the time. But then she took it back and said you were better than Superman, and that you've saved a whole lot more lives than Superman ever could. She also said that the true heroes were the ones who put their lives on the line for others, and you were one of them," he explains. Stephen sighs.

_She called me a hero._

He turns to look out the window again. He was definitely going to need some time to digest this. "Superman?" He asks one more time, just to make sure he heard right. Jack snickers.

"Yeah, and after she said that she said the 'S' on your chest stood for 'Stephen' instead of 'Superman'," Jack says. At that, Stephen starts laughing and hides his face in his hand. After he regains control, he takes his hand off his face and taps his chin with his fist.

_God, I'm an idiot_.

"Jack, before we set off, I need to run a quick errand," Stephen says as he starts the truck.

"Sure, Dad, what do you need to do?" Jack asks.

"I need to stop by a flower shop," he says as they pull out of the parking lot.

--

The next morning Natalie drags herself into work.

_It is definitely going to be different around here_.

She shifts her coffee to her left hand and then reaches for her office door with her right hand. When she opens her door, she is surprised to find Frank, Miles and Eva gathered around her desk. "What is going on?" she asks. They all turn around with huge grins on their faces.

"Natalie, you have a secret admirer," Miles says.

"Either that, or she has a boyfriend she didn't bother to tell anyone about," Frank says.

"Oh brother," Natalie says as she rolls her eyes and places her things down on her chair, then placing her coffee cup on her desk. "Whoa," she says when she finally looks at the bouquet. "Whoever sent me these roses was definitely going for the shock factor," Natalie says as she examines the bouquet of many-colored roses.

"No, I think he's trying to tell you something very important," Eva says. Natalie looks over to her.

"And how do you suppose that, Eva?" Natalie asks.

"Do you not know the meanings of these roses?" she asks, sounding shocked. Natalie shook her head.

"No, but please, enlighten me," she says sarcastically. Eva grunts.

"Okay, pay attention 'cause this is Rose Meanings 101. The red roses say 'I love you'," Eva begins with a coy smile.

_Okay, duh, I think I got that one._ Natalie thinks.

"The white roses say 'I'm worthy of you'."

_Okay. _

"The yellow roses say 'I'm glad you're my friend'."

_Oh, well, that's nice of him._

"The pink roses say 'thank you'."

_For what exactly?_

"The orange roses say 'I am fascinated with you'."

_Um... what?_

"The coral roses say 'I desire you'."

_Huh!?_

"And the lavender roses say 'it was love at first sight'," Eva says, smiling as she finishes.

Natalie didn't realize how much her breathing had accelerated until Eva finished that last part. "Love at first sight?" she asks.

"Oh, but that's not the best part, Nat," Eva says with a wicked grin.

"What? You mean there's more?" Natalie asked, fear striking her heart.

"Oh yes. The red and white roses in the center imply unity. The orange and coral roses together imply passionate thoughts, and the best part about this is that these are a dozen roses, which is the ultimate declaration of love." They all hear some sort of squeaking sound coming from Natalie. But if you were to now judge the look on that poor woman's face, you could see she was scared to death.

"Nat, are you okay?" Frank asks.

"No, I'm not okay!" Natalie snaps. "Some freak just sent me a dozen roses, obviously declaring his undying love for me, and leaving no clue as to who the hell he is," she says, obviously freaking out.

"Well, they did come with a card," Miles says, holding it up for her to see. She snatches the card from his hand and it's still in its envelope.

"You didn't open it?" She asks, sounding disappointed.

"No, it's your card, we weren't going to open it no matter how much Eva wanted to," Miles says, glaring to Eva. Eva sticks her tongue out at him. Natalie hands the card over to Eva.

"Eva, read it for me," Natalie says. Eva takes the card and opens the envelope.

"You are something else, Natalie, you know that?" She says as she pulls the card out.

"Just shut up and read the card," Natalie snaps.

"Okay, fine, it says:"

_I will never say goodbye to you._

_Thank you for making me a hero._

_Love, _

_Superman_

Natalie gasps and snatches the card out of Eva's hand. She reads the card over several times.

Eva looks over to Frank and Miles. 'Superman?' she mouths. Frank shrugs as well as Miles. When they look back over to Natalie, a grin spreads across her face.

_That little snitch, he told._

While the grin on her face grows even more, she folds the card, puts it in her coat pocket, and leans over to smell the roses. "They're so beautiful, aren't they?" Natalie asks, sounding like she just hit cloud nine. Eva, Frank and Miles look to each other. "And the best part is they smell so good," Natalie says, smelling them some more.

"Natalie, who is Superman?" Eva asks. Natalie leans up from the roses.

"Oh, just a guy I know," she says while picking up the roses.

"Where are you going with the roses?" Miles asks.

"They need water," Natalie says walking over to her office door.

"Natalie, are you in love with this 'Superman'?" Eva asks, with that sinister smile of hers. Natalie pauses at the door and turns around with a smirk on her face.

"I'm not sure Eva, why don't you tell me?" Natalie asks, then exits her office.

"Natalie!" Eva calls after her, not happy with her answer. "Natalie!" Eva yells again, walking over to the door. Frank and Miles just sit back and laugh. "Natalie Durant! Don't you dare walk away without answering my question!" Eva screams as she stalks after her.

"So who do you think is Natalie's 'Superman'?" Miles asks after they calm down.

"For once in my life, I honestly don't know. But even if I did, do you think I would tell you, let alone Eva?" Frank asks him.

"No, you wouldn't," Miles says, admitting defeat.

"Come on, ever since Stephen left, Kate's left a mountain of paper work on my desk, and I'm sure she's done the same thing to you," Frank says walking out of Natalie's office.

"You can say that again," Miles says.

_Maybe it would be best if Stephen didn't come back,_ Frank thought. _Once he finds out about Natalie's Superman he's gonna be crushed._

Oh, Frank, wise and wonderful Frank, if only you knew.


End file.
